by Viola Grace
A woman out of time lands on a world that has potential to become a weapon for the future.
Noma feels the pain of separation from her sister keenly, but the light that she stumbles across belongs to a man with beautiful eyes.
In a city of the rejected, she finds a purpose, and in the investigation of her destiny, she takes people with her out of the shadows and into the light.
The Citadel takes shape under her focus, and when it comes time for their first actions, her training on Resicor is used to help the talents that it had kept under control. It goes to show that education is never a waste.
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Fractured Darkness
Copyright © 2014 Viola Grace
ISBN: 978-1-4874-0079-8
Cover art by Carmen Waters
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Fractured Darkness
Tales of the Citadel Book 36
By
Viola Grace
Chapter One
Noma twitched the edges of her robes and followed her sister into the boardroom. There was a sinister touch in the air. Something was happening.
Noma really wished she had worn her more comfortable underwear; she hated to run in something that wasn’t comfortable.
Trala and the administrator had a few words, and then, all hell broke loose.
Noma fought with the guards who grabbed her arms and watched her sister for clues. The moment that Trala went over the edge of the crevice, Noma was right behind her.
They clasped hands as they fell, and Noma’s darkness flared out to slow their fall, as did Trala’s light.
Noma’s link to Resicor was through her connection to her sister. While Trala could talk directly to their world, Noma only got the most occasional whisper in her mind. Most communication was done while she slept and in the form of tutorials that Noma could not mention to her sister. Trala walked a very different path, and it was important that she not be distracted from its approach. Their lives indentured to their government was bad enough. Their future was going to be theirs alone, but they would not be together.
Resicor contacted Trala with a low whisper, “Is it time?”
“I hope so, because I just lost my job.”
Noma rolled her eyes. “Funny, Trala. I lost my job, too.”
“Ladies, ladies. We have a job to do. Are you ready?”
As one, they intoned, “We are ready.”
“Excellent. Join with me, children, but this is going to hurt.”
Noma clutched her sister’s hands as the light exploded around them and she was in the antithesis of her element.
And then came the pain.
Noma fought to stand up. Her body was flat on the ground and her skin burned with energy. She hadn’t gotten the mind of Resicor, but it had split the power between the two of them.
Resicor, you trust me with all this?
There is no one else beyond my Avatar that I feel needs or deserves this more.
I know you have briefed me on what I need to do, but I am not sure I am up to it.
I am. I will watch over your sister, so do not worry. You will do what you are destined to do and you will flourish. I have already seen it.
On the other side of the cavern, Trala was stirring, her light flaring in short bursts.
Trala stood and looked around the cavern. The world was bright and vivid through her eyes.
This feels better. How are you adapting, Trala?
Noma could hear them both as if they were whispering into her ears.
I feel fine, Resicor. Where is Noma?
Noma began to stride across the cavern now that she was standing, her shoulders back. I am here, Trala. We are one.
Resicor was filled with joy. We are one, and soon, Noma will be where she was always meant to be and Trala will take control of the surface.
Sorrow ran through their link, and the sisters took each other’s hands or, rather, they tried to.
Sparks flew the moment that they touched.
What the hell? Noma heard her sister echo her thought.
You are night, she is day; there can only be transition between you.
Noma looked to her twin and saw her own sadness reflected in eyes that swirled with brilliant blue.
Their thoughts merged and clung together. If they couldn’t hug in person, they would hug in their thoughts.
I have prepared the portal, Noma. It is there whenever you are ready.
What of our connection? Can I still talk to Trala?
It will be faint, but you will hear her. I would never separate my two most beloved daughters. I will be the link between you, sunset and dawn.
Noma felt the flare of power, and she turned to look at the black silk wall rippling with energy.
It is not for you, Trala.
Noma came up next to her, and she felt the tug through the portal as if there was a hand on hers. “It is for me. I can feel it calling me. What is on the other side?”
The beginning. You are going back to the beginning, and you will know what to do once you get there.
Noma turned to Trala, gritted her teeth and hugged her sister while the energy fought them. It crackled and burned both of them, but they held on as tight as they could until the power of the repulsion of their talents drove them apart.
That was…you are crying!
Noma smiled sadly. “Of course I am crying; I am going to be parted from Trala for the first time in my life.”
Trala sniffled and wiped at her tears. “I am going to miss you, Noma. My heart will bleed.”
“And my soul is broken, but we will both go on. I will start fresh and you will take over. We will go on.” Noma smiled and backed toward the portal; a moment later, she turned and stepped into her future.
Her shadows wrapped tightly around her and protected her from the black ice that rippled and swirled around as she took slow and steady steps. She held her breath as step after step finally began to show a thinning of the darkness of the portal.
“Where the hell did she send me?”
Noma stumbled out into the night of a world that didn’t taste like Resicor. She made a face and looked at the cavern behind her and the walls of stone to either side. On a ledge, in the darkness, she looked out over the world that she was supposed to put roots in. In the distance, she could see flickers of light, and she decided to make for those tiny points of illumination.
She wrapped herself in shadow and used the tendrils to propel her over the ground at considerable speed. It wasn’t the most attractive means of propulsion, but it got her where she needed to go.
She came clos
er to the city, and she lowered herself to the ground, walking the last kilometre with caution. A strange sensation was building behind her, so she whirled to see what was approaching.
A small ball of light hurtled toward her, and she caught it. The touch was all she needed. “Skiria. They sent you to keep an eye on me.”
The ball sent a blossom of warmth through her and a whispering laugh rang in her mind.
“Funny. I am going to keep you under wraps. I don’t think you are appropriate to this era.” Noma wrapped the small orb in shadow and tucked it inside her suit, hiding it in case there were curious eyes in the city.
She turned back to the points of light in the darkness and continued her journey. She needed to set foot inside that low-walled city. That much she could feel in her bones. As long as she kept moving forward, she wouldn’t think about the world she lost and the sister who was on her own for the first time in their lives.
Noma kept her pace brisk and concentrated on holding in her shadows. Something was telling her that she didn’t need to tip her hand the moment she met strangers. It was worse than Resicor; she had no idea what would happen if a talent were exposed.
“Halt. Declare yourself and step into the light.”
Noma smiled slightly, kept her hands out at her sides with her keeper robes flowing around her. “I am Noma Sheewah and I am a traveller.”
The guards lifted contained lamps toward her and examined her face. They looked at each other and shrugged. One asked, “Are you a priest?”
She inclined her head, “I have some experience with searching for a higher power.”
They came to a silent agreement and waved her in, one of them moved into step with her. “We will take you to the temple, priest.”
She hid her smile and walked with him through the silent city streets, noting that for such a large assembly of a population, none was on the streets. She suspected that there was a curfew in effect, but with the expanse of empty land around the city, she could not imagine why.
Chapter Two
The priests greeted her with wary politeness and simply offered her a bed for the night, indicating that she must be tired of the darkness. If only they knew.
Her view of the altar told her that she must keep on her guard. She had never seen a Vorwing in person, but the image of the purple man with elegant wings, seated before a bowing populace had been enough to put her on guard against the priests, but they had simply taken her to a small, neat cell and left her until dawn came to visit.
Noma lay down on the bed, fully clothed. If she needed to move, she didn’t want to be undressed in the light and wearing her own shadows. That might just give her away.
Small bits of sleep crept in and she woke and turned fitfully. When she heard the first scream, she bolted upright, and when the second came, she was on her feet and opening the door.
The shouting and screaming was easy to follow. On a gallery looking into the central atrium, she saw two priests pulling aside the cap of what appeared to be a well. The other priests were hauling two heavily bound people into the room and toward that newly opened pit.
A figure appeared next to Noma. “We apologize for the noise, but they must be dealt with as they appear.”
“What must be?”
“Powers, don’t you have them where you are from?”
She shook her head. “Nothing that requires treatment of this sort. What are you doing with them?”
“We send them down the pit for our lord to treat as he deems fit. She is young but that is good. She has not had time to breed another generation.”
Noma looked closely at the girl in the chains and her jaw tightened. “She is no more than twelve at most.”
“Precisely. It is good that she came out to practice in the darkness.”
“What of the man with her?”
“He came to defend her when we captured her. He is one of those from beyond the city. They are trying to steal the powers before the lord can judge them.”
Noma nodded. “And so he will be judged.”
“Indeed. It is an honour I am on the fence about bestowing, but he will not leave her and he is strong. Getting her into the pit will send him after her.” The priest smiled. “We will all be able to get some sleep after they have been sent for judgement.”
As he spoke, the two were being dragged toward the hole and the child’s eyes were white with terror. She was sobbing, her voice was ragged, and only the man next to her kept her from fainting.
Each moment got them closer to the ten-foot hole in the floor, and Noma felt a sense of urgency inside her veins. She was here for this moment. She looked up and smiled at the dome of glass.
“Please excuse me. I believe I have somewhere to be.” Noma let her shadows out, reached down to grab the chained ones and lifted them all through the skylight on tendrils of darkness. She brought the man toward her head and yelled, “Which way?”
He pointed with a jerk of his jaw toward a series of rolling hills. With them bound to her by shadow, she carried them across the landscape and into the night.
They walked on her talent for hours until a singular structure appeared in front of her. A forty-foot wall stretched upward with no visible doorway. The large, heavy tower squatted behind the walls and extended high enough to scrape the skies.
“How couldn’t I see this from the city? It is huge.”
The man was tired but he grinned. “We have our own powers, but we don’t banish them for judgement. We are all useful in our own ways.”
His chains clanked as he shifted in her grip. “If you knock, they will open the walls.”
She snorted. “Where would the fun be in that?”
It was all the warning she gave them as they soared up and over the barrier, to land gently in the inner courtyard.
Fire exploded around them in a ring and men of ice and women of fire lined up to face her.
“Drop your shields and be assessed.”
She roiled her shadows and crossed her arms. “You didn’t say please.”
The man that had just arrived quirked a smile. “Please.”
She withdrew her shadows and was standing next to her two passengers. The young girl was shaking with fear, but the moment one of the men used ice to release her chains, she turned and flung her arms around Noma.
“Thank you, ma’am. Thank you so much. I know I shouldn’t have been out, but my healing doesn’t work unless there is an injury and I was looking for a stray creature to practice on.”
The man next to them rubbed his wrists as he was freed. “It was fortuitous that you were there, ma’am, or we would have been in the pit by now.”
“I believe I was where I needed to be. At least I got a nap in before I came to your rescue.” She smiled.
The man who had arrived and said please so prettily, smiled. “Thank you for bringing Hemson and our new recruit safely to our refuge. Will you walk with me?”
She inclined her head. “I might. Is there a chance for breakfast?”
He chuckled. “I do believe the kitchens are just getting underway. Please.”
She blinked at his use of the word again and followed where he led. This city was huge but nearly empty. The folk that lived there were stirring with the morning light. Bakers were plying their trade and the air was filled with the scents of a lively economy.
Noma swallowed as a memory of her grandmother’s house filled her. Every morning when the girls were there, there was fresh baked bread or biscuits. Noma associated those scents with a feeling of serenity and home.
“My name is Urad Vix. I am in charge of making sure that no one comes in that does not belong and that anyone leaving is appropriately outfitted.”
“Noma Sheewah. I have travelled a considerable distance and am still trying to determine my actual destination.”
“I am pleased to make your acquaintance. You are not from here, are you?”
She rubbed the back of h
er neck. “Where exactly is here?”
He paused and pulled her into an alcove. “Where are you from?”
“A world name Resicor.”
He winced. “Well, now you are on Skora-Mark. We who have powers are hunted for judgement.”
“Yeah, saw that.” She was having trouble concentrating. Where his people were shades of grey, he was gold and silver mixed with a little jade. Urad was very attractive but now was not the time to sigh like a young, foolish girl.
“It has been suspected that the judgement may not be death for those given to the pits around the world.”
“Wait, what? There is more than one?”
“Oh yes. Many. There are many of them around the globe.”
She frowned. Something was familiar about this. She needed to think. “Do you have a temple or something where things can be quiet while I think?”
He frowned. “Must it be a holy place?”
“No, just somewhere quiet where I can gather my thoughts.” And the thoughts of Resicor but that was another matter.
Urad nodded and led her to the place she was curious about and yet couldn’t resist. The huge tower in the centre of the keep was large enough to protect thousands. He led her upward on a winding staircase and she lifted the edges of her robes as she went up step after step.
Halfway up the tower, he paused and led her along a long gallery to a strange room that she hadn’t seen the like of since she was a child. “A library?”
He grinned. “It is quiet and no one will interrupt your thoughts. Is that a problem?”
“Can I read the books on the shelves?”
“If we have it, you can read it. I will have food brought to you when it is ready.”
She nodded. “Thank you for your initial acceptance.”
“If you can haul two of ours across the wastes without breaking a sweat, you can take a few days to learn our past.”